Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The most studied example of this phenomenon is in polyphosphate-accumulating bacteria (PAB) found in a type of wastewater processing known as enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR), however phosphate hyperaccumulation has been found to occur in other conditions such as soil and marine environments, as well as in non-bacterial organisms ...
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a sewage treatment configuration applied to activated sludge systems for the removal of phosphate. [ 1 ] The common element in EBPR implementations is the presence of an anaerobic tank ( nitrate and oxygen are absent) prior to the aeration tank.
Maintaining optimal pH is important for the removal of phosphorus from water. Phosphorus is most effectively removed at the neutral pH range, when the insoluble aluminum hydroxide is present. This hydroxide functions as a Lewis acid, [5] creating a flocculation environment similar to conventional wastewater treatment.
In the case of phosphorus in particular, reuse of excreta is one known method to recover phosphorus to mitigate the looming shortage (also known as "peak phosphorus") of economical mined phosphorus. Mined phosphorus is a limited resource that is being used up for fertilizer production at an ever-increasing rate, which is threatening worldwide ...
Phosphate mines contain fossils because phosphate is present in the fossilized deposits of animal remains and excreta. Low phosphate levels are an important limit to growth in a number of plant ecosystems. The vast majority of phosphorus compounds mined are consumed as fertilisers. Phosphate is needed to replace the phosphorus that plants ...
Phosphorus from plant sources is therefore better suited to ruminants, but is still used to a lesser extent than phosphorus provided by inorganic sources. The ruminant's phosphorus requirements are dictated by the needs of the microbial population in the rumen, with the phosphorus being necessary for cellulose digestion and protein synthesis .
The excretion of urea is called ureotelism. Land animals, mainly amphibians and mammals, convert ammonia into urea, a process which occurs in the liver and kidney. These animals are called ureotelic. [3] Urea is a less toxic compound than ammonia; two nitrogen atoms are eliminated through it and less water is needed for its excretion.
Phosphorus (P) is one of the major essential macronutrients for plants and is applied to soil in the form of phosphate fertilizers. However, a large portion of soluble inorganic phosphate which is applied to the soil as chemical fertilizer is immobilized rapidly and becomes unavailable to plants. [2]